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According to the weather forecast last night we are now at the end of the hot, dry summer, hence the reminders to prepare for autumn vaccination activity in this week’s issue. As well as looking forward, we extend our ongoing thanks for all the hard work undertaken to ensure adult social care services are maintained all year round and hope everyone’s been able to take a well-deserved break during the summer.
We do our best to keep the content and structure of our PEN website up-to-date in these fast-changing times and your suggestions on how to improve the website are always welcome.
Autumn Vaccination Booster for Frontline Staff reminder: national bookings from Monday 5 September
We are encouraging as many Frontline Health and Social Care Workers as possible to take-up the Autumn Covid-19 Booster vaccination.
From the Monday 5 September the National Booking Service will allow frontline workers to book at local vaccination centres with appointments available from Monday 12 September. Please do everything you can to protect yourself and those you care for by booking in. For more information please refer to the government guidance.
Autumn booster care home vaccinations reminder
The NHS has begun to contact Care Homes to arrange Autumn Booster vaccinations which will begin from Monday 5 September and be rolled out over the coming weeks – if you have not yet heard please wait to be contacted.
Vaccination visits may include both residents and staff, however where staff are not vaccinated or are not available on the day they will be able to book via the National booking service from Monday 5 September -with appointments available from Monday 12 September.
Given the short timescales we are asking all Homes to start the consent process as soon as possible:
- Consent needs to be obtained before starting any medical treatment, test or physical investigation / examination or before providing personal care for a patient; this is standard NHS practice and is a legal requirement.
- The Green Book Chapter 2 provides guidance on the consent process for vaccinations and guidance is also set out in the Roving and Mobile SOP (Section 5.1) and within the national protocol framework.
- Where it has been established that the person lacks capacity to consent, a best interests decision should be taken in line with the checklist in section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act. The decision maker should make a record of their best interests decision. If a capacity assessment is done and the decision is that the individual did have capacity to consent, this should also be documented.
- Consent remains valid unless the individual who gave it withdraws it. If there is new information between the time consent was given and when the immunisation is offered, it may be necessary to inform the patient and for them to re-confirm their consent.
Relevant consent forms and supporting information can be found on the GOV.UK website - COVID-19 vaccination programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). These forms should be adapted locally to apply to the specific dose being administered (first, second, third, primary dose or any subsequent booster doses) being given.
Please do all you can to accept the vaccination visit dates offered, as they are part of a plan which enable the NHS to vaccinate as many homes as possible.
The capacity tracker has now been updated to allow Homes to record Autumn vaccinations for both residents and staff and we ask that you do this at least weekly to help us support the rollout to homes as quickly as possible.
Changes to asymptomatic testing in care homes
Routine asymptomatic testing in Adult Social Care has been paused from Wednesday 31 August due to falling COVID-19 prevalence nationally.
Full details about the changes across the sector and the public health rationale can be found in the press notice at Regular asymptomatic testing paused in additional settings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), and the letter from the Director of Adult Social Care Delivery in the Department of Health and Social Care.
The COVID-19 testing in Adult Social Care guidance and the COVID-19 supplement to the infection prevention and control resource for adult social care have been updated to reflect these changes.
Hospital discharge COVID-19 test guidance update
Following the suspension of asymptomatic testing, mentioned above, guidance has also been updated to reflect that following a positive test the period of isolation required is continuous (does not restart on discharge or entry to a new place of residence), as previously there was some confusion that this should start again.
Some lateral flow tests still available from DCC
In line with the Government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ plan, access to free asymptomatic lateral flow testing ended on 31 March 2022, However Devon County Council still have LFTs in stock.
Please order them using this form.
Once lateral flow test stock is gone, it's gone and we apologise if this means your order cannot be processed in full.
FFP3 Qualitative Fit Tester Training
To help with your winter preparedness plans, Devon County Council have limited free FFP3 Qualitative Fit Tester training sessions on offer.
Each session has 8 places – apply early to avoid disappointment. The training dates are:
Training dates:
- Thursday, 22 September, Tavistock, 9am – 3.30pm
- Wednesday, 28 September, Exeter, 9am – 3.30pm
- Tuesday, 4 October, Barnstaple, 9am – 3.30pm
This offer is open to hospices, care homes, care agencies, personal health budget patients’ personal assistants (PAs), unpaid carers and schools, and anyone who has previously done this training but would like a refresher.
This is the link to book onto one of the courses.
New cost of living grants fund for older people – short application window
The charity, Independent Age is providing a total of 25 grants of £40,000 each to charities and community organisations across the UK.
The funding is intended to ‘get more money into the pockets of older people and help ensure they do not have to choose between buying food to eat and heating their homes this winter’.
Applications will be accepted from registered or exempt UK charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIO) or community interest companies (CIC) with an annual turnover of at least £100,000.
There is particular interest in local community based charities that are providing advice, practical help and support to older people in their neighbourhoods, where such work can be scaled up appropriately.
Projects should be ready to start from November 2022 and completed by 31 December 2023.
There is a two-stage application process.
Phase 1 applications will be accepted from 1 September to 16 September 2022.
For more information and to apply please visit the Independent Age website.
Personal Assistants workshop on the CQC and personal care
Self-employed PAs who are not registered with CQC are legally able to provide personal care, as long as they operate in a way which meets the CQC exemption criteria. Alex from Community Catalysts will be holding 2 drop in workshops to talk about the exemptions and answer your questions, on Thursday 22 September at 12 noon and again at 6.30pm.
To book your free place on this online event please use the following link.
If you cannot make it to the workshop, please contact Alex via email on alex.woolaway@communitycatalysts.co.uk or by calling 07741 260 674.
Devon County Care Home Forum
Please join us for the next County Care Home Forum meeting on Tuesday 20 September, 2 to 3pm. This is an open invitation to all care homes within the Devon County Council footprint to regularly meet with Devon’s Market Management Team, CCG, commissioners and other professionals to share information on key topics of interest and concern, hear about and get involved in care home commissioning work and find out more about other key national and local care home priorities.
We will be working with DCHC (Devon Care Home Collaborative) to finalise the agenda shortly.
To join the meeting click on this link and we look forward to seeing you all there.
You can view all of the previous meeting minutes in the online library.
Locality Care Home Forums
These forums are engagement opportunities for care home providers and their registered managers, to meet with DCC Market Management Team and the locality Assistant Director/Social Care Operational team to discuss and share local concerns, topics of interest and hear about the latest market support.
East – Tuesday 27 September 2022, 10 to 11am
South and West – Wednesday 28 September 2022, 1.30 to 3pm
North – Thursday 29 September 2022, 3 to 4pm
You can view all of the previous meeting minutes in the online library.
If you have not received the calendar invite please email socialcarebusinessrelations-mailbox@devon.gov.uk stating which locality meeting you would like to receive invites for (North, East or South & West).
Remember to share your good news stories in this newsletter
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